Where Are All the Ducks?
Continued...
During the development process, the design and appearance of the ArcIMS site became more consistent with the AGFC Web site. Special attention was given to the user experience. What seems intuitive to a GIS user is not always as apparent to a person with no GIS knowledge. Most site users are waterfowl hunters so AGFC opted for simplicity. Layer visibility is controlled by the scale. A static legend identifies only the symbols, political boundaries, and rivers needed although more features could be listed. A scrolling commentary explains the ducks' current activities or furnishes project information. Tool buttons, so intuitive to GIS users, were a mystery for many AGFC users, particularly the zoom tool. The concept of drawing a box to zoom was so foreign that the zoom tool was altered so it zooms when clicked but can also zoom in on a drawn box. With the site design completed, it was time to put some mallards on the map.
CAST established a direct connection with Service Argos, Incorporated, a third-party data service, that allowed for automated database updates. The most recently acquired locations are queried from the database and posted to the ArcIMS site. This lets users see the most current positions of the birds. Mallards are symbolized by gender. Each duck's name appears on the map beside the duck's symbol. Users can also view the entire flight path of a bird or all of the locations collected by one PTT. A mallard can be queried to learn when its location was acquired, where it was banded, its band number, banding date, its age, and the latitude and longitude of the location.
To keep track of site activities, users must log on by entering their e-mail address and ZIP Code to enter the site. New users are prompted with an optional user survey. Survey results supply information about the site's user group. As part of the survey, users are invited to suggest a name for a mallard being tracked.
Many hunters have become enthusiastic about the Satellite Mallard Tracking site. It encourages public involvement and shows where the ducks are. The site has also become a revenue source for the AGFC. Duck naming was sponsored as part of the mallard banding in February 2005. The site has been popular; more than 35,000 users have logged on to the site since November 2004. Users from every state and more than 50 countries have logged on to locate the ducks. During duck season in Arkansas, 1.9 images were generated per second.
In the future, more detailed data (such as topographic maps and aerial photographs) will be added to the Satellite Mallard Tracking program, and additional birds will be fitted with transmitters. For more information, contact
Hanna L. Ford
Programs Support
Wildlife Management Division
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
2 Natural Resources Drive
Little Rock, Arkansas 72205
E-mail: hlford@agfc.state.ar.us
Tel.: 501-223-6366
R. Brian Culpepper
Research Specialist
Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies
12 Ozark Hall, University of Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas 72701
E-mail: brian@cast.uark.edu
R. Andrew James
Waterfowl Program Coordinator
Wildlife Management Division
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission
E-mail: rajames@agfc.state.ar.us
Tel.: 501-972-7318
Hanna Ford has worked as the spatial data support technician for the Wildlife Management Division of the AGFC for the past seven years. She enjoys working with the commission's biologists and looks for ways to incorporate GIS into the AGFC's workflow. She is an undergraduate student at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock. As a GISCorps volunteer, she was part of the first group of volunteers to respond to Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
R. Brian Culpepper is a research specialist at the Center for Advanced Spatial Technologies/National Consortium for Rural GeoSpatial Innovations, Mid-South region. While his primary role is as a geospatial research project manager, he also provides technical support and assistance to state and local government agencies. He has been teaching GIS short courses for the past 10 years and serves as a part-time instructor at the Walton College of Business and in the Department of GeoSciences at the University of Arkansas. Culpepper holds a bachelor's degree in landscape architecture and a master's degree in geography, both from the University of Arkansas.
R. Andrew James is currently the Wetlands Reserve program coordinator for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. When this article was written, he was the Waterfowl Program coordinator for the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission in Little Rock, Arkansas. A Louisiana native, James received a bachelor's degree in wildlife conservation with a minor in forestry from Louisiana Tech University in Ruston, Louisiana. He earned his master's degree in wildlife biology from the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. In both his studies and work, he has strived to integrate GIS technology with wildlife management techniques.
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